Mukul Dagar guides UP to victory

NAGPUR: There's certain degree of calmness about Mukul Dagar. Ever since he broke into Uttar Pradesh side, Dagar has provided the stability to the top order. On Monday, when the conditions required to be respected, he dropped his head down; played according situation and scored his maiden List A hundred.
Dagar's chanceless 106, which came off 122 balls with the help of 13 boundaries, helped UP post a 283-8 in their 50 overs in their third league tie.The total proved too good for Team Rajasthan, who never looked like chasing the target at any stage as UP recorded a comfortable 75-run victory in the Central Zone Vijay Hazare One-day Trophy at VCA's Civil Lines on Monday.
With overcast conditions, Rajasthan chose to bowl on a wicket which had some moisture. Their new ball bowlers Pankaj Singh and Shailendra Gehlot not only dried the runs but picked up a couple of crucial wickets. The experiment of opening with Praveen Kumar didn't work this time as he was cleaned up by Pankaj. Gehlot sent back Tanmay Srivastava, who was making comeback after injury.
Dagar hardly drove anything early on and made sure UP didn't lose another wicket. His third-wicket stand of 74 with Umang Sharma brought UP back in the game. It provided a perfect launch pad for Parvinder Singh (60, 55b, 6x4). The Meerut right-hander batted positively and hardly allowed Team Rajasthan spinners to settle down. Their fourth-wicket stand came in only 94 balls. The Team Rajasthan pacers—who were impressive in their opening spells—provided too many boundary balls, especially in the Batting Powerplay, which yielded 38 runs. Although UP kept losing wickets, they continue scoring quick runs.
The top order has been problem for Team Rajasthan so far and their misery continued. Ankit Lamba and Surya Prakash Suwalka (27, 38b, 2x4, 1x6) failed to get going against the experienced duo of Rudra Pratap Singh and Praveen Kumar. While the former chopped one on to the stump, the latter got the gem of a delivery from Ankit Rajpoot.
In between Kumar removed ace Team Rajasthan batsman Robin Bist (23, 30b, 3x4)—who played some gorgeous strokes during his short stay—with another beauty. It looked nearly over for Rajasthan when Ashok Menaria fell cheaply to a brilliant catch by Akshdeep Nath.
Rajasthan middle order struggled against spin duo of Piyush Chawla (10-2-25-1) and Kuldeep Yadav (10-1-38-1). Puneet Yadav (50, 72b, 5x4) and Dishant Yagnik (53, 69b, 6x4) got their eye in but failed to catch up with climbing run rate. After Yadav's dismissal, Rajasthan lost the contest. RP continued his good form and picked up three wickets.
BRIEF SCORES
UP 283-8 in 50 overs (Mukul Dagar 106, Parvinder Singh 60, Umang Sharma 33, Akshdeep Nath 22; Pankaj Singh 4-52, Shailendra Gehlot 2-53, Deepak Chahar and Madhur Khatri one wicket each) beat Team Rajasthan 208-8 in 50 overs (Dishant Yagnik 53*, Puneet Yadav 50, Surya Prakash Suwalka 27; Rudra Pratap Singh 3-33, Ankit Rajpoot 2-36; Praveen Kumar, Piyush Chawla and Kuldeep Yadav one wicket each) by 75 runs.